


that's the game that you play

by princessofthorns



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22577947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessofthorns/pseuds/princessofthorns
Summary: Big Brother Westeros: A television reality game show where the contestants are completely isolated from the outside world and can have no communication with those not in the house.Sansa doesn't know what the hells she was thinking when she decided to join this. But when she meets Margaery, she starts to think maybe that's where she's supposed to be.
Relationships: Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell
Comments: 44
Kudos: 136





	that's the game that you play

“ _Think before you say anything -_ anything. _I know it will be hard, but try your best._ ”

“ _Never lie. The whole fucking country will know if you lie.”_

“ _Be friendly to everyone but don’t_ become _friends with everyone. You don’t want anyone thinking you’re fake._ ”

“ _Don’t try to stand out too much otherwise people will think you’re an attention whore. But also be careful not to become irrelevant._ ”

“ _Everyone loves a romance, you know.”_

When the man was guiding her through the corridors, Sansa’s hands were slightly shaking and she could hear her heart in her ears. _What the fuck am I doing_?

Five months before, when she had first subscribed to be a part of the Big Brother Westeros, the biggest fucking reality show of the country, it had really just been a joke between her and her sister. Thousands of people subscribed every year, but everyone knew that basically only aspiring models, bodybuilders and too good-looking people who had just turned eighteen were selected. 

And publicists. The people behind BBW really liked publicists. 

But somehow, after sending her application, that consisted of a video of herself explaining what she expected to gain from that _once in a lifetime experience_ and an online document with the name of her Instagram profile, her full name, age, where she lived and what she did - _24, Winterfell, veterinary resident_ \- she was called for an interview. And another. And another. And then they told her to send some documents and to take medical tests and then all of the sudden she was on a plane, heading to King’s Landing, ready to spend ten days locked in a hotel room until the moment she would get inside that house filled with over seventy cameras to be isolated from society without no communication with anyone else other than the other residents and have the whole country judging everything she did and watching every second of her days and -

 _Gods_.

She kept remembering all the advice her family had given her on the day she’d discovered she would be a part of the fourteenth edition of the BBW. She was reciting them in her head until she came face to face with a yellow door. 

The man opened the small bag he had with him and gave her a grey bracelet that was supposed to monitor her heartbeat and a necklace with a microphone.

“Never take these out. If you do, you will get called out by the production and lose black dragons”, the man said.

Black dragons were the fake money they had inside the house, used mainly to buy food. You’d lose some of them if you didn’t wear your microphone, or if you jumped into the swimming pool while wearing it, or if you ruined the house’s decoration. Sansa knew that because that morning two members of the crew came to her room and explained that and many other dynamics of the show, even though she was already aware of most of them. 

Like the fact that every Thursday there was the King/Queen challenge, and whoever won it would be able to nominate another contestant to the elimination - when the people from home would vote and choose between two players and one of them would leave the competition. On Fridays, there was the Angel challenge, and the winner would have the power to protect someone from being sent to elimination that week. On Sundays, the King or Queen would choose their victim, and the other contestants would vote on the second person who should be up to said elimination. And on Tuesday, the poor one who got the most votes would leave the house. Oh, and there would be parties on Wednesdays and Saturdays, that had the intention of making the contestants really fucked up and more likely to make out, fight, or just create more entertainment in general. Not that they told her that.

And it would be like that for three months until there would be only three people left in the final when the country would choose who deserved to take home a hundred thousand golden dragons. _Real_ money. 

The crazy thing about the BBW was that it was a competition where you didn’t know _how_ to win. Because every year the winner was someone completely different. Last year, it was this humble doe-eyed girl from the Stormlands who didn’t have any beef with anyone and would spend most of her days quiet. The year before that, the winner was this arrogant prick from Lannisport who was sexist as fuck but still managed to make the general audience like him because “at least he was honest and said whatever was on his mind.” 

Things were confusing, and the more Sansa thought about it, the more nervous she would get. She put on the bracelet and finished adjusting the necklace when the man put his hand on her shoulder and said, smiling, “Have fun and good luck”.

And then the door opened and Sansa’s heart stopped for just a second. 

The door opened to the backyard. The place was big, but not as big as it looked on TV. Oh, but it was _nice_. On her left was the pool, on her right she could see the gym, and behind both of them there was the house. And in front of its door there were people. People.

 _Fuck_.

The other competitors.

They were around ten men and women, and while they were talking happily, clearly getting to know each other, a girl that could not be _that_ blonde turned her head to see Sansa.

“Hey!”, she exclaimed, and then came towards her, followed by the others.

“Hey”, Sansa said.

“I’m Daenerys, from Dragonstone! You?” She had a huge smile and, just like her hair, she had eyes that could not be _that_ color.

“Sansa. I live in Winterfell.”

The others started to introduce themselves. There were actually twelve people. Sansa couldn’t possibly remember their names, especially when the door opened again, and again, and again, and new people would come in one by one. Finally, when they were seventeen, the door opened one last time to welcome a blonde boy who _definitely_ had just turned eighteen. 

A tall red-haired man said, “You must be the last one, it’s always eighteen people. Let’s go inside, we can get to know each other in the living room”.

The house was amazing inside. There were three bedrooms, two with multiple beds and one with only a king-size one, for the winner of the King/Queen challenge. Each bedroom had one bathroom - the sight of them painfully reminded Sansa that she would have to wear a bikini every time she’d get a shower for Gods knew how long - and there was a kitchen, a small room with a TV for the vote nights and a huge living room.

There’s where everyone settled, sitting on the floor. A girl with long and thick black hair named Arianne stood up, introduced herself, said her basic information - _30, Dorne, publicist -_ , talked a little bit more about her life and then called another person to do the same. Sansa tried to pay as much attention as she could to everyone, but it was hard not to get distracted by the fact that, if she looked up, she could see four cameras in the ceiling. 

Until a tall girl named Brienne pointed at her, and it was her time to stand up.

“Uh, my name is Sansa. I’m 24 and I’m from Winterfell. I… Well, I work with animals. Vet, I’m a vet. Resident, currently. I have a dog, her name is Lady, she’s a husky and she’s huge and I-”, she breathed deeply, “she’s the reason why I decided to work with that”. 

She told a few more things about her, and the more she talked the easier it got. She mentioned that she loved rainy days, and that classic novels were her favorite. She talked about her family, and how shocked yet supportive they were when they found out she was going to do this - _I thought you were fucking with me_ , her sister had said while smiling and giving her a punch in the shoulder, which in Arya’s language meant affection. Talking about all of that, things she loved, in front of not only seventeen strangers but also of _millions_ of people who were watching was both terrifying and surprisingly nice. 

Finally, when she was over, she looked around to decide who she would call. And that’s when she set eyes on _her_. She had long, wavy chestnut brown hair, and her eyes were - they were looking at Sansa in a way that was challenging, curious and amused at the same time. Sansa didn’t hesitate before pointing at her.

She smiled, and when one dimple appeared on her right cheek Sansa’s heart skipped a beat. She stood up, and went to the middle of the circle they’d made before the introduction started. She came face to face to Sansa, looking very amused, and Sansa noticed she was still standing. 

She blushed and came to a sit while trying to ignore the others laughing at her in a way that was not mean, but still managed to make her embarrassed.

“So, I believe many of you might not be interested in me after the lovely introduction Sansa just gave us”, she winked, “But my name is Margaery. I’m from Highgarden, and I’m Master of Whispers at the Reach governor’s small council. I’m 27, and I’ve been working there since last year. I’ve been into politics long before that though, it kind of runs in the family.”

 _She is gorgeous,_ Sansa thought while looking her up and down and taking all of her in. She was shorter than Sansa and was wearing this white long sleeve with a V-Neck and black tight jeans that contrasted perfectly with Sansa’s black shirt and white shorts. 

_Margaery_ told more things about herself. She would very much miss gardening while she was in the show, she loved to dance and liked to watch history documentaries. She wasn’t shy _at all_ and the fact that millions of people would be watching her was much more exciting than intimidating for her. She was competitive and was there to _win_ , and would do whatever it took to get there.

And Sansa was stunned.

Afterwards, some people went exploring the house, others went to the pool, and two blessed guys named Jorah and Tommen - the little blonde one who had been the last to come in - went to the kitchen to cook something with the ingredients they already had.

Sansa stayed in the living room, looking at herself in the mirror, when she saw Margaery come to her side. 

“Excited?”, she asked.

“More like terrified.”

Margaery laughed, “Don’t worry. We will make it fun for the next three months.”

Sansa turned to look at her directly, “How do you know you and I will stay until the end?”

Margaery smirked, “I’m very optimistic.”

-

Almost four weeks had passed, and Sansa could say she had gotten used to this new reality. She couldn’t even remember the cameras anymore and had even created a daily routine. She would wake up and make breakfast for her group (the house was divided between groups green and white - she was part of the white one). She didn’t mind cooking breakfast, as long as she didn’t have to wash the dishes. Then she would exercise in the gym, spend some time in the pool, have lunch, and spend the whole afternoon talking to her friends.

Yeah, she had made friends. Missandei, the sweet girl from Naath who worked as a translator and could speak the Common tongue, High Valiryan, Dothraki, Old Ghiscari, Ibbenese and even the Old Tongue. Daenerys, who had gotten really along with Missandei since the first day and would spend time with Sansa as well. Brienne, shy but one of the kindest people Sansa had ever met. Tommen, Arianne... and Margaery.

No one more than Margaery.

At night, when everyone else was already sound asleep, she and Margaery would sit on the grass floor outside the house and talk for _hours_. It was always a little hard for Sansa to wake up the next day to make breakfast, but it was _so_ worth it.

Because Margaery was just… fascinating. She would talk about her job, her strong political views and the things she had to deal with in her daily life. But she would also tell Sansa all about her favorite books, what kind of music she liked to listen to and what she liked to eat. And about Highgarden. Margaery talked so much about her home, Sansa felt like she’d already been there.

And she would _listen_. Listen to Sansa tell her about Winterfell, about Lady, her brothers, and her sister. How close she was to her mother, and how much she missed _all_ of them. About how it was like to work with animals, how hard it was, the things she’d had to see. When she got homesick, in the first week, she had cried and Margaery had held her and had stroked her hair and Sansa just melted into her touch.

It was just so good. She had a very fun time with her other friends, but Margaery was different. It wasn’t like two people who were living in the same house and kind of had to get to know each other, no. It was natural. It left Sansa wanting more.

“It just pisses me off how the Academy ignores horror films, you know?”, Margaery said one of those nights, when they were talking about movies, “They are, in my opinion, the kind of movie that best explores human emotions and reactions. Putting people in situations of extreme fear, stress and madness is a different way to analyze human conditions and explore metaphors for situations we live in real life.”

“Not everyone thinks like that. Not everyone thinks too much about horror movies at all, to be honest”, Sansa replied. “There is the stigma that horror is meant to scare and provide a two-hour entertainment and that’s all. These movies get ignored in the awards season simply because the voters think they’re too smart to watch it.”

The only problem is that everything she and Margaery had was also _too_ good. Sansa was very aware of how it felt when Margaery touched her arm while talking to her. How it felt when she held Sansa’s hand to take her to their nightspot. How it felt when she played with her hair.

How she could hear Margaery speak for hours, about any subject, and not get bored. How she had promised herself that she would think, _think_ , before saying anything ever because she knew the whole country was watching, but when she was with Margaery she would forget to do that and would always say the first thing that came to her mind.

How it felt when Margaery laughed at some joke she would make. How it felt when they would part ways at the end of the night - they were in different groups, so they didn’t share the bedroom, just like they didn’t share meals - and Margaery would whisper goodnight to her.

Sansa had known she was bisexual for a few years now. Her family and friends knew. But she had never even kissed a woman before. She didn’t know how to make a move, and no woman had ever made a move _towards_ her. Probably because she had never gone to any LGBTQ+ clubs, never used dating apps and just didn’t know any queer woman in general, but even so.

But lack of experience didn’t make her a moron, and she knew full well the reason why her heart would beat faster every time people would finish their late-night snacks and get ready to sleep - because that meant she and Margaery would get together soon. She knew _damn_ well the reason why she would get just a little bit annoyed when Margaery would dance with Dany and Arianne during the parties, so close their bodies touched and Sansa had to look away. 

She knew, too well, what she wanted from Margaery deep down.

But she and Margaery, that could _never_ happen. At least not while they were in a reality show. For many reasons. She could not _be_ with someone in that situation, not when her mother could see her! The very thought of her family watching her do as much as kiss somebody threatened to make her sick. 

And there was another reason. A deeper one, that she didn’t really like to think about.

_Everyone loves a romance, you know._

_I’m here to win. And I will do whatever it takes to get there._

Margaery was cunning. Very. She was a competitor and she didn’t hide that. She, a man named Varys from Lys, Arianne and Daenerys had formed this little group where they would get together to manipulate votes in order to escape going to the elimination. Last Sunday, the King of the week, this man named Daario, had nominated Dany. He said it was just because they didn’t talk very much, but Sansa secretly thought it was because she had rejected him in one of the parties. And Margaery and her companions had made this plan to send this poor boy named Pate, from Oldtown, to the elimination against her, because, according to them, the general audience would _never_ choose to keep him instead of Dany. And apparently they were right since he was chosen to leave the competition.

Now, Sansa wasn’t judging Margaery. She could play the game however she wanted. But she couldn’t deny that there was a part of her that thought Margaery could go as far as being in a relationship only to get the public to like her. It was true, everyone who watched the BBW _loved_ romance. Sansa had lost count how many times the public had chosen not to eliminate someone only because they had a significant other inside the house.

And Sansa couldn’t ignore the way Margaery looked at her sometimes. With longing, and a softness she didn’t use with other people. And that scared almost as much as it made her heart jump.

“Why are you here?”, Margaery asked her one night, “I mean, in this reality show. Why are you here?”

“My life has just… been the same for too many years”, Sansa answered, and realized that was the first time she’d admitted that. “Every day was the same. Everyone was the same. I was never really the _adventure_ kind, and I felt like I needed something different for the first time in my life”, Sansa looked around them, “It’s so crazy. I’ve watched this show for thirteen years and I’ve always felt like I knew this house and this life like the back of my hand. But it’s been almost a month and every day this place seems to surprise me more.”

Margaery looked around too, seeming to be considering what Sansa had said, and drew her eyes back to her, “It really does, sweetling.”

“How about you?”, Sansa asked back, “Why are you here?”

Margaery sighed, and lay down on the grass. “I wanted to see what I would be like here. How I would behave. Not only me, but the people around me. The idea of seeing the behavior of human beings, _my_ behavior, through confinement is as scary as it is fantastic. I want to see my limits. I want to see what I’m capable of doing, in a context I’ll never get the chance to be in again.”

-

On the next Wednesday, things were tense. Not for Sansa, though, but for Margaery and her friends. Asha, this funny woman whom Sansa had actually met before in her real life - her brother was Sansa’s brother’s childhood friend - had gotten eliminated the night before, against this weird Dornish man named Gerold, which was not on Margaery’s plans. She had spent the whole day reunited with Varys, Dany and Arianne trying to figure out their next strategies, and they only - _finally_ \- separated when it was almost dark and time to get ready for the party that was set in the backyard every Wednesday.

Those parties were a blessing and a curse for Sansa. They were fun, people became fun, Margaery was always a vision, Sansa always got a little tipsy… But they were also _hard_. Hard not to drink too much and end up doing or saying something stupid - like the fact that she was hopelessly wanting the one person she considered her best friend in that place. 

That night, she and Margaery were dancing and Margaery - of course - stepped closer to Sansa and placed her hands on her shoulders. _That_ didn’t necessarily mean anything, Margaery did this to the other girls as well, but it was the way she looked at Sansa, with her typical smirk that always seemed to be encouraging or challenging her to do something, that made her tense. And wanting, even more.

Sansa let herself be taken by the high of the moment and, without thinking, placed her hands on Margaery’s hips, which made her shift even closer. And then, without thinking again - she really needed to _start_ thinking - she moved her hands higher and tightened her hold on Margaery's waist and - the music stopped. 

_“ARIANNE, CONTROL YOURSELF”_

It was the voice, the metallic voice that came from some kind of speaker inside the walls whenever some of them did something wrong. And Sansa turned her head around only to see Arianne on her knees, on the floor, throwing up inside one of the fancy jars they had by the pool.

“Oh, _fuck._ ”

Arianne was in Sansa’s group, which meant her fake money was also _Sansa’s_ fake money. The music was already back on, and Sansa, Margaery, and Brienne went to Arianne’s side to help her. 

Sansa helped her stand up and told the other girls to go back to the party and let her deal with that. She took Arianne to their bedroom, cleaned her up and brought her some water, and she was slowly going back to her normal color when she spoke.

“So... you and Margaery, right?” Okay, maybe _quickly_ going back to her normal color.

“What?”, Sansa said, trying not to blush while knowing exactly what she was talking about.

Arianne made a teasing face, “Come one. Just because I was puking my brains out doesn’t mean I wasn’t aware of you two almost slow dancing while _hip-hop_ was playing.”

“No. No. We’re friends. You guys dance all the time.”

“Not like that! And besides, it’s not just tonight. It’s _every_ night. You guys literally spend _every night_ talking about Gods know what and, seriously, what do you guys have so much to talk about anyway? We’re in confinement, for fuck’s sake, your lives can’t be that interesting.”

“How do _you_ know that?” Sansa knew she sounded ridiculous by worrying that Arianne knew about their late-night conversations when the whole country knew about it, but still.

“Sometimes I have to get up in the middle of the night to have a glass of water”, Arianne said with a smirk. “For real now. I’m not blind. It’s been five weeks. You want her”, and when Sansa didn’t say anything, “You don’t even bother denying it!”, she laughed.

Sansa looked around, for the first time in weeks being very aware of the cameras in the room, and Arianne continued, “And she wants you too, she told me.”

“What?”, Sansa asked too abruptly.

“We’re talking about who we would choose if we had to find love in a _hopeless place_ and she said she would choose you.”

Sansa sat down on her bed, letting that sink in, and after a whole minute Arianne snapped her fingers at her.

“So?”

Sansa jumped. “My family”, she lowered her voice, “I don’t want to _find love_ in a place where my family can see me acting on that love.”

Arianne rolled her eyes, “You’re a grown woman. Have you ever dated?”, Sansa nodded, “Your family won’t be seeing anything shocking or new or - oh. Is it because she’s a woman?”

Sansa shook her head, “No, it’s not that. Everyone knows.”

“There’s no big deal then. Unless that’s not the only reason.”

Sansa didn’t say anything when she saw Arianne’s expression turn into a much more serious one. “Oh, I see. You’re afraid she might want more from you than just, well, you.”

Sansa took a deep breath, “Don’t get me wrong, okay? I know she is a good person, a great one even, I do. But she’s never hidden how much she wants to win this thing. I, I…” Gods, she’d been keeping that to herself for weeks now and it’s so good to tell someone, “I’m afraid she might want to take advantage. I don’t think it’s particularly wrong, this is a _game_ , but I wouldn’t want to be a part of it and - what?”, she stopped when she saw Arianne shaking her head with wide eyes.

She didn’t even have to turn her head to understand, but she did it anyway. Margaery was standing at the door of the room, with Arianne’s high heels in her hand and an unreadable expression on her face.

“Margaery…”, Sansa tried to start, her voice sounding smaller than she would’ve wanted, but Margaery just placed the shoes on the floor and left the room. Sansa didn’t have to think twice before following her.

But Margaery didn’t stop walking until she’d left the house and finally came to the drinks table. 

“Listen, I know what I said didn’t sound good, but I can -”, explain? That sounded so lame to Sansa’s ears she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Margaery did it for her, though.

“Explain? There’s nothing to explain, sweetheart. You think of me as someone who would go as far as to use you to get what I want, you shouldn’t even waste your time trying to explain anything to me”.

“No! I mean, listen, I, I... I like you”, _cameras, cameras, cameras everywhere_ , “And I wouldn’t like you if I thought you were _that person_ but it’s just - you’ve said you would do whatever it took. You said you’re here to see what you’re capable of doing in a situation like that and I, I just thought… love stories… They work really well in this game. If you’d really do whatever it took, I thought…”

“This is a fucking competition! We’ve all signed up for all it, and competing isn’t wrong. I play the game, but I don’t play with people. Everyone here knows who I am. You’ve said so yourself, I’ve been saying since the beginning what I want to do because I don’t want to hide that I _am_ competitive. I don’t want anyone to think I’m here to be friends with everyone while I fuck them behind their backs, and I’ve been honest since day one with everyone, _especially_ you. And yet you think of me as -”, Margaery’s eyes went from angry to tired in one second, “Do you really think I would do that to you? Play with your feelings? After all these weeks? After everything we’ve talked about, what you know about me, you really think I would -”

Sansa pressed her lips to Margaery’s before she could say anything else. It was hard, fast, and wonderful, she tasted like wine and honey and Sansa thought she would lose herself in Margaery’s mouth during the three seconds it lasted until she drew back.

Margaery still had a confused expression on when she said, teasingly, “You change your mind quickly enough.”

“Do you… do you really want me? Like, would you want me if we had met outside, in our normal lives?”

Margaery smiled just a little bit, “Yes, I would”, her voice softer than Sansa had ever heard.

“These past weeks, whenever I thought about you and I possibly getting together”, Sansa started, “I’d feel afraid because I know if I get the taste of what it’s like to have you in here, I’ll still want you out there. And the possibility of you, well, using me, and our hypothetical relationship as a pawn in this competition and not wanting me anymore once we leave… it would break me”, Sansa took a deep breath and held one of Margaery’s hand, “But if you tell me otherwise I believe you. I do. I’d feel like an idiot if I didn’t, not after all these nights we’ve been spending together. The person you have been to me, the person you have shown me, I… I’m sorry, Margaery.”

Margaery smiled. _That_ teasing dimpled smile that reminded Sansa how fucked she was with that woman. “Well, now that we’ve settled then.”

She wrapped her arms around Sansa’s neck, stood on her tiptoes and pressed their lips back together. Sansa wrapped her own arms around Margaery’s waist and when she felt teeth digging into her lower lip there was a very small and insignificant voice at the back of her mind - _mother is watching this_.

But then her tongue touched Margaery’s and nothing else mattered.

-

The last time Sansa’s hands were shaking like that had been eight weeks ago when she was nervous about joining the BBW. Now they were shaking for the exact opposite reason.

Last Sunday, Sansa was sent to elimination by the King of the week, Harry, a blonde boy from the Vale. They had never been quite friends, but it was Margaery who really didn’t get along with him. Actually, it wasn’t just her, Harry didn’t like Margaery’s partners in general, but according to him she was their “head”. So, when he won the challenge, everyone knew he was going to send her.

If it wasn’t for Sansa. Because the Angel challenge took place on Friday, and Sansa won it. And she didn’t have any doubt regarding who she would protect.

“You don’t need to do this for me, honey. He will send you instead. And if you get eliminated… I can’t lose you too. Not after Ari”, Margaery had said in the afternoon Sansa won the challenge. Arianne had been eliminated on the Tuesday before that, and Margaery was still feeling it.

“I don’t care. You’re the one I want to protect. How do you think I would feel if you left on Tuesday and I knew that I could’ve stopped it?”

Margaery smirked, “What makes you think I’d get eliminated?”

Sansa quirked her eyebrow, “What makes you think I would?”

In the end, Harry did in fact nominate her, and everyone knew it was his way to get back at Margaery after not being able to send her. Margaery, Varys, Dany and Sansa - who had to join their little group due to the need to help herself - voted to send Hizdahr, this guy from Ghiscari who would always hang out with Harry, to elimination along with Sansa. 

“He’s nice and everything, but he’s just Harry’s shadow - you’ll have no chance of losing against him.” And Gods did Sansa hope Margaery was right.

And then there she was, lying on her bed, waiting to be called to the living room along with Hizdahr. Everyone else was having dinner, but Sansa didn’t think her stomach would be willing to receive some food at that moment. She closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to calm her nerves, and when she opened them again Margaery was looking down at her from where she was standing next to her bed. 

Sansa moved to give her space, and Margaery sat on the bed.

“How are you feeling?”, she asked, stroking her sides. 

“I think I got… too used to this place. Almost two months ago I was asking myself what I was doing with my life by being here but now…”, Sansa's eyes watered and Margaery ducked to give her a kiss. It was sweet, and soothing, and relaxed Sansa just a little bit.

“You’re perfect”, Margaery said, “And Westeros will be the country of idiotic pussfucks if they really decide to take you from here.”

Sansa laughed, “That’s not the way to convince them to keep me here, Marge.”

And when Margaery gave that soft smile that by now Sansa knew it was only meant to her, she sat down on the bed to cup the other girl’s face with both hands.

“I want you to know that if I leave this place tonight, I will be waiting for you. I meant what I said that night. I want you, not only here. I want you anywhere. And if I have to wait five weeks to be with you again, I will.”

“You won’t leave”, Margaery said, grabbing one of Sansa’s hand from her cheek and kissing her wrist, “But just in case…”, she kissed Sansa softly, and whispered against her lips, “I would miss you. More than words can say.”

-

It just so happens… that Sansa didn’t leave. Hizdahr got eliminated and the feeling of relief seemed to wash Sansa’s body when they’d gotten the result.

And everything just got even better two days later, when Margaery _finally_ became the Queen of the week. The challenge consisted of a series of some kind of puzzles they had to put together, and whoever finished all of them first would win. 

Margaery was Queen, which meant that she couldn’t be up for elimination that week, that she would send someone for it instead (Harry had spent the rest of the day cranky), that she would have better food than anybody else… And that she would have her own room. With a king-size bed. That she could share with whoever she wanted. 

And if Sansa thought she knew what a blessing and a curse meant before that, she would come to realize she’d had no idea.

It was late at night, and they were covered from head to toe by the comforter, which meant the cameras couldn’t see them. Sansa was on top of Margaery, her hands inside her shirt, and Margaery had her right leg wrapped around Sansa. 

Sansa knew this was too much - _they were on TV_ \- but it was so hard to think rationally when she had Margaery’s soft skin under her hands, hot mouth on her own, her scent filling her. It almost felt like she’d lost control of herself when she moved her lips from Margaery’s to kiss her jaw and then her neck. The taste of Margaery’s skin along with her nails softly scratching Sansa’s back were making her head spin. 

She moved one of her hands along Margaery’s stomach until it reached her breast. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so when Sansa cupped her there was nothing stopping her from feeling her already hardened nipple against her palm. Sansa deliberately brushed her thumb over it, and Margaery gasped.

She put her hand over Sansa’s, and gently pushed her shoulders.

Sansa rolled off of Margaery and both of them turned to their sides to face each other.

“I’m sorry for going too far”, Sansa whispered, fully aware of the microphones they were wearing.

“It’s okay”, Margaery smiled, “Considering we’ve been together for over three weeks now, and that in the meantime we’ve actually been _living_ together… I would say we’re moving too slow. At least for my standards.”

Sansa let out a weak chuckle.

“Have you ever…?” Margaery asked.

“No. I mean, with a man, yeah, but not with a woman.”

“I see. And I wouldn’t want to deflower you in front of millions watching. Well, maybe not watching, but definitely listening.” Margaery smirked, touching her microphone.

Sansa smiled and shifted closer to Margaery, “Will you teach me?”, she whispered, “When we’re out of here?”

Margaery grabbed Sansa’s hair, “Four more weeks, darling. And then you’ll learn.”

-

Three weeks later, they were lying in bed, in the very same position, completely covered by the comforter again, yet in completely different situations. 

The final would be in five days. The two of them, Tommen and Daenerys were the only ones left. Three days before, there had been a massive challenge that had settled who would be the first finalist. It was a resistance test, as simple as it was painful: the four of them got into a car, and the one who stayed the most time in it would win. 

Tommen was the first to give up, after almost eleven hours. The poor boy was white as a sheet, and Sansa followed him shortly after. She truly felt her body could take a few more hours, but her bladder had other plans in mind. Margaery and Daenerys though, that was a battle. A battle that Margaery lost, after an unbelievable twenty-three hours. 

Margaery was _crushed_. She had cried and cried and Sansa did her best to take care of her, both physically and mentally. 

But it only got worse the next day, when the challenge to determine the second finalist took place. It was a luck test more than anything. The three of them had been given some information on what had happened in the “real world” while they were inside the house, and they had to say whether the statements were true or false. And apparently that was Tommen’s luckiest day, because he got eight out of ten right, against seven and five for Sansa and Margaery.

And now there they were, facing each other, facing the fact that in a few hours they would be separated for the first time after almost twelve complete weeks. 

It wasn’t the fear of missing each other that carried the melancholy they were feeling. At least not in the near future that is, since they would see each other in five days anyway. No, it was something else. It was the dream they had silently built together, that the two of them would stay there until the last day - _how do you know you and I will stay until the end?_

It was the fact that they knew that right now, people from all over the country were trying to choose _between_ the two of them - which one was a better player, which one was more charismatic, which one was more deserving to win this competition.

It was the fact that they didn’t know _how_ they would make this work outside, in the real world. The fact that Sansa lived in the North and Margaery in the South and none of them knew if they could give up on their jobs or leave their homes and their families and - 

Sansa wanted to ask her how it would be. If Margaery was willing to make sacrifices for their relationship, the same way Sansa was thinking about making. If Margaery would miss spending twenty-four hours a day with her like Sansa knew _she_ would. If she was planning on introducing Sansa to her family - her three brothers, including Loras, whom she loved more than anyone else in the world, and her infamous grandmother. 

There were a lot of questions she needed to ask and so much she wanted to tell her, but not at that moment. No, there was no need. They would have plenty of time for that, in five days. 

Quietly and as carefully as she could, Sansa started to take off the necklace that had her microphone. Margaery watched her but didn’t say anything. Sansa nodded at her, and she started to take off her own necklace, slowly and trying not to make even the lowest sound. Those microphones were too good not to catch the smallest movements. Once she was finished, she looked at Sansa questionably.

Sansa smiled sheepishly and whispered, so lowly she wished Margaery could read her lips.

“I love you.”

Margaery looked at her in the exact way she had when they had first glanced at each other, but it was also completely different. 

“And I love you.”

Sansa was not careful at all when she closed the distance between their lips though, and she made enough noise for their microphones to capture. 

_“SANSA AND MARGAERY, PUT YOUR MICROPHONES BACK ON RIGHT NOW”_

But then her tongue touched Margaery’s again and nothing else mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys!!! I don't know how it is where y'all live, but in my country Big Brother is a huuuge deal. That's how I got inspired to write this fic!
> 
> This is the first thing I've ever written, ever, so feel free to tell me your thoughts! Thanks for reading :D
> 
> My tumblr in case you wanna talk about Sansaery: @bachianinhaone


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